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Remember a few days back when the Pope told American Nuns that they were doing it wrong? He accused them of being Radical Feminists, and they were wrong to be “…focusing … too much on poverty and economic injustice, while keeping ‘silent’ on abortion and same-sex marriage.”

(The Holy Pontificator was specifically referring to the mission of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a sort of Nun profession society.)

Well, the LWCR has responded by slapping the Denizen of the Holy See upside the Holy Head, verbally.

Sister Simone Campbell, in an interview with the BBC made clear that the Pope has not spoken to her organization, and that she has no idea what the guy in the pointy hat is talking about. She claims that their role is to “live the gospel with those who live on the margins of society.”

It is conjectured that since the Nuns supported a different approach to American Health care than a bunch of Catholic Bishops did, that this may be payback. Also, Campbell claims that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is a male-only patriarchy, so they don’t know how to deal with “straight forward” smart women.

What this amounts to, ultimately, is the Vatican ignoring feminism (or what it calls “secular feminism”) for too long, and suddenly realizing that a large part of the “good works” done by the Catholic Church’s nuns, on the ground and in the US, are guided by some of those principles, which emerge from direct community engagement and not biblical scripture. Most poor people, repressed people, people living “on the margins of society” are women and their children.

The proper role of women in the Catholic Church

The Nuns understand this. The Vatican, in the mean time, has a different view of women and their role in society.

The Pope was unable to comment on this blog post because was busy getting his feet cleansed by a prostitute.

I attended my niece’s first communion at a liberal catholic church this weekend. During the part of the service where they solicit the prayers of the community, one person suggested sending brain scans of women to the Vatican to show them that women are capable of independent thought on church matters (I’m paraphrasing).

I rarely go to church (obligatory family events only), but I don’t remember ever hearing a catholic dis the pope during mass before.

Yes, yes, yes! These are the nuns who taught me social justice forty years ago! (Actually, some of them might be the very same people. The average age of nuns is getting up there. Young smart women are by and large turned off by the life of service to the church, and would rather go into secular lines of service if they’re inclined to that sort of career.)

Going to Catholic high school, the subliminal message (and it was very much subliminal; no nun would EVER say this out loud to students) was: every Pope since the last John has been a misogynist dick. As I’ve grown up, become an atheist, and been able to look at the Catholic church with an atheist eye… I’ve come to conclude, the subliminal message was right. Every Pope since the last John *has* been a misogynist dick. For all I know, he was, too, but perhaps less so than some others who have worn the pointy hat.